title: Effect of age at onset on disease characteristics in vitiligo.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vitiligo is a multifactorial disease in which genetic, immunologic, and environmental factors play an important part. Late-onset vitiligo is a poorly defined entity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case records of patients who attended the pigmentary clinic at our institute from January 2001 to December 2010 were reviewed. Patients with a diagnosis of vitiligo were analyzed with respect to their demographic characteristics with special reference to their age at onset.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with disease onset after 30 years had a significantly higher association with precipitating factors such as trauma, stress, and drugs in comparison with early-onset vitiligo (p < .004). However, the difference did not reach statistical significance when these factors were analyzed individually. There was a significantly higher association with other nonautoimmune diseases (p  =  .05), a higher incidence of positive family history (p < .0001), and a higher association with leukotrichia (p < .002) in late-onset disease. Early-onset nonsegmental vitiligo was associated with a higher incidence of photosensitivity and pruritus compared to early-onset segmental vitiligo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late-onset vitiligo has certain distinguishing features compared to early-onset vitiligo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Postgraduate Institute of Medicine Education and Research , Chandigarh, India. ajkanwar1948@gmail.com
authors.forename: Amrinder J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kanwar
authors.forename: Rahul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahajan
authors.forename: Davinder
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Parsad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014820:Vitiligo / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult